Yes, This is a Thoroughbred

Not a PRE. I know, hard to believe.

I feel like one of the most common phrases used to describe thoroughbreds is "hard keeper." They're often portrayed as lean muscled, rib showing, thin-necked creatures. I suppose that is what they look like when coming off the track, all tight angular muscle and bones. 

Not exactly right off the track, but not exactly looking like a dressage prospect.

However, the horse coming off the track is often quite young. A two, three, four or five year old horse is going to look much different than a mature specimen. On top of that, a racehorse is fed and conditioned for lean muscle. They are exercised regularly to develop that strong but fit look. The thoroughbred in the dressage horse home, however? It can (and probably should) look much different.

Yes, this is a much younger Pig (around 11). He's not as ribby as many young TBs, but he's not exactly living up to his potential.

I've met a lot of people who assume because their horse is a thoroughbred, he is destined to live life as skinny horse. Owners who figure their horses have too high of a metabolism to bulk up like a warmblood or other "easy keeping" breed.

Sorry, guys. I soundly disagree.

This 18 year old cow of a horse was getting two pounds of grain he clearly didn't need. Most of it ration balancer.

This doesn't mean I haven't struggled to keep weight on my horses. Oh no.

Over the last two years, my horses have seen a lot of change in their lives. Bast came off the track, into a show barn and a completely different style of riding and program. He fought with ulcers, and me. He moved to a lower key barn, with very different feed. And finally moved back to the show barn, and excellent pasture. Finally we hit the jackpot, and he gained weight.

Again, yes. This is a thoroughbred. The same bay as above, actually.

Pig retired, got depressed, moved barns three times before settling in a lower key barn with really terrible pastures for over a year. He lost weight. He fought a tick disease. He fought ulcers. He moved back "home" to excellent pasture. He once again blossomed.

His muscle may not be where it once was, but his weight and coat are fantastic.

What do these stories have in common? Ulcers and pasture. In my experience, thoroughbreds can not put on weight without good pasture and ulcer management. Those are the very basic needs of the breed that must be met to have them look their best. A thoroughbred can be a very hard keeper when those two needs are not met.

Here he is in his full muscled glory. The hunk.

But there's more to it. Once the thoroughbred has the rich forage required by their bodies, they also need protein. I'm yet to meet a thoroughbred who does not need a high level of protein to put on muscle and maintain weight. With my two, I feed a ration balancer as a supplement. Others feed actual protein supplements. Both see excellent results.

#notawarmblood #oraquarterhorse

Of course, you do actually have to ride your thoroughbred on occasion to spur correct muscle development. However, the protein and high forage diets are necessary to provide the breed everything they need to put on weight.

Now here's my caveat. Just because a grain is high in calories, doesn't mean it will put weight on a thoroughbred. I've literally poured grain into my horses with no result. Too little forage and a diet higher in fat than protein leads to a thin and ribby horse, in my experience. Bast especially exemplifies this, as he was eating an absurd amount of Ultium and still looking weedy and thin. Once his pasture improved? He his grain has been halved, but he still gains weight. Now his diet is higher in protein than fat, something I have found to be essential for this breed in this sport. 

I'm about to fall off the back, but dear god look at this glorious #fatblood. He was getting a handful of ration balancer here. A handful.

Bast is legitimately a harder keeper than Pig. Part of which is due to age. Pig was working 6 days a week at 4th level for an hour minimum on barely 2 pounds of grain, and getting fat. That's not my definition of a hard keeper. Actually, my thoroughbreds tend to eat a lot less grain than the warmbloods on the property in similar work. The difference in the dietary needs of the warmblood and thoroughbred is really interesting and apparent.

Not hard keepers. Are hard headed, though.All three of us.

The details aside, I love taking my round muscled thoroughbreds out into the world. I enjoy showing people how an ex-racehorse really can look. It's rare for people to identify the breeding on my horses in the first or second guess, just because they don't look like the thin-necked and skinny horse typically pictured. They are dressage horses, and I want them to have the muscle needed to support the discipline.

Not the typical thoroughbred.

Stumping people is fun, but I wish more thoroughbreds were out in the dressage world being shiny and fat #notwarmbloods. The breed is too amazing to be held down by the stereotype of the skinny and under muscled horse.